Benitez Did Not Know Chelsea Were After Ba!

31 Dec 2012 11:43:43

"What a way to run a railway." It smacks of Mike Ashley's treatment of Kevin Keegan when Newcastle signed Xisco ... the manager didn't even know who Xisco was!

Chelsea's interim manager Rafael Benitez today refused to discuss speculation that has linked his club with a move for Newcastle United frontman Demba Ba ... simply because he has not been involved in the deal!

A report this weekend had claimed that Ba was due to travel to London over the coming days for talks with the Blues over a transfer.

However, when asked about the possibility of the Senegalese striker signing on at Stamford Bridge, Benitez insisted that he did not wish to discuss his transfer plans.

Rafael Benitez: "No, because we don't talk about this business, we had a very important game today."

Benitez was speaking after Chelsea had collected a 2-1 victory from their trip to Everton.

And it is reported in London today ... Benitez was not even asked if he wanted Ba!

Chelsea Won't Pay Ba Agent £4m!

Chelsea's hopes of signing Newcastle striker Demba Ba have suffered an early blow after unproductive discussions over payment to representatives!

Club officials met the 27-year-old's representatives on Sunday night, but that the deal on the table did not come close to meeting what his AGENT expects from the deal.

All along it seems as though Ba has been "encouraged" to move on because backroom boys can make a "nice little earner" out of the deal.

Ba's football future doesn't even seem to come into it ... it's "others" trying to get a cut.

The Ba "camp" has indicated that the Senegal international does not now expect to be playing his football at Stamford Bridge next month.

Allegedly Chelsea were willing to pay him (his asking price) £85,000 per week ... so the "problem" is elsewhere ... and probably nothing to do with Ba.

The Blues are among a series of clubs to have been linked with the former West Ham frontman, who scored his 12th and 13th goals of the season at Arsenal on Saturday, with the £7million release-clause in his contract due to become active once again on Tuesday.

However as yet, the Magpies insist they are yet to receive a bid that would trigger that clause.

The deal Ba signed when he joined Newcastle during the summer of 2011 was intensely complicated as a result of the medical condition of his knee, and they have spent recent months attempting to renegotiate it.

However, the two sides have been unable to reach agreement and with the player's network of representatives clearly active behind the scenes, the waters are becoming increasingly muddied by the day.

What is clear is that any deal would cost significantly more than £7.5million when signing on and agent fees are taken into consideration.

Ba, who has 13 goals already this season, has a £7.5million release clause in his contract which becomes active in January when the transfer window opens.

A host of clubs have been linked with a possible swoop for Ba, including Arsenal, Tottenham, QPR and French giants Paris Saint Germain.

But now Chelsea are reported to have moved into pole position after Sky Sports sources revealed talks were due to take place between Ba's representatives and the European champions.

The Sunday People claimed today that Ba may be forced to stay at Newcastle after demands from his advisers for extra payments pushed his fee above £12million.

Sunday People Sport: Ba’s advisers want between £3m and £5m to conduct a transfer – ballooning the fee to a whopping £12.5m.

Potential buyers also face the nightmare task of trying to satisfy Ba’s wage demands. He is believed to want a whopping £85,000 a week, having turned down Newcastle’s improved offer of £70,000.

All in all it adds up to a massive gamble on a player who may not even pass a medical because of a long-standing knee problem.

The demands of Ba’s advisers have annoyed players and officials at St James’ Park.

A Toon source said: “There are people in the dressing room who believe Demba Ba has let Mike Ashley and Newcastle down after the way they helped resurrect his career. They’ve been kicked in the teeth.”

If Ba does leave Newcastle are likely to miss out on Marseille striker Loic Remy, who favours a move to AC Milan.

Mick Quinn: “The FA should take some action as he is trying to run the whole game.

“He often oversteps the boundaries, and while I don’t know what he said to the officials, his gestures seemed to be aggressive enough.

“For a start attacking a young linesman in that manner hardly offers people thinking about taking up refereeing any encouragement if they are going to get verbally bullied week in, week out.

“He was aggressive, it’s as simple as that. I’m not surprised that the FA didn’t take any action because it is one set of rules for Fergie and one set of rules for everybody else.

“How can he have a go about some help he has given him in the past? It has nothing to do with the comments of Alan, who was simply talking about Mike Dean’s lack of action on the day.

“He wasn’t talking about Fergie himself. He is out of order because he is bringing private and personal help into the situation.

“He is saying they are a wee club but they won exactly the same amount of trophies as Newcastle did last season. At the end of the day the authorities are afraid of Sir Alex.

“He is a great manager but how can you expect the FA to do anything about disrespectful comments when (Man U chief executive) David Gill has such a big role with the FA?

“Every manager appears to be punished for breaking rules – apart from Ferguson.”

Pardew Hits Out At Ba Courting Speculation!

Alan Pardew says Demba Ba doesn't help the transfer speculation by saying he wants to play for Arsenal and PSG.

Alan Pardew: "Really and truly this window is the key, I think, because if Demba goes in this window, it will cause us a problem.

"I think he will stay, but there's a possibility he could go because of the clause that's still in force.

"In the summer, I won't let it run until the summer. I'll do something about it.

"We will either move Demba on or we will secure him in the summer.

"Some of the speculation that runs around him - yesterday he was asked about his home-town club, PSG, would he like to play for them one day, and he said yes, of course.

"That's now a headline that he's going to play for them next week. The media kind of fuel it and I understand that, that's part of their business.

"But for our part, he has always put out for us, he has scored more goals than anyone else for us, he is playing well and that's what I have to focus on.

"We have obviously got a scenario where we have got to protect ourselves."

BA WANTS TO PLAY FOR FRENCH SIDE

Demba Ba remained coy when quizzed on reports linking him with a January transfer to Arsenal. But the fact the North London side is the 'Little France' of the Premiership would help.

The Senegal forward’s future has been a source of constant speculation in recent months due to a £7.5m release clause in his Magpies contract.

The 27-year-old has also been linked with a move to Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain but is understood to be a target for Gunners boss Arsène Wenger, who is keen to bolster his attacking options at the Emirates.

However, the striker was giving nothing away about his future when asked about a potential St James’ Park exit next month.

Demba Ba:“Arsenal is a club that has not won the title for a long time, but it is true that this is a club that attracts every footballer.

“But as I said and repeated, these are the people who talk in the newspapers because for the moment, between me and Arsenal, there is not much.

“That means I’m in my club at the moment and the day I have to leave, I will analyse the situation. If it’s better for me to stay, I will stay. And if it’s better for me to go, I will.

“After that, it is better to go somewhere where there are a lot of French, because it fits much more easily. But for now, it is not in the program.”